pardon my french but please know...

If you're feeling healthy and happy and totally in the holiday spirit, cheers to you, savor it, and if you're able, reach out to those around you who aren't. This post is for the rest of us. Here's the heavy "stuff" people are dealing with in my corner of the world, and these short, dark days and the pressure cooker of the holidays certainly aren't helping:

• Illness, temporary and chronic 
• Work worries/stress
• Unemployment/underemployment 
• Stress &/or heartache about children, young and grown 
• Family dynamics 
• Death, grief, loss (of people, relationships, institutions, traditions, dreams)
• Solitude/loneliness 
• Aging
• Relationship/partnership issues

The list goes on, but I won’t, except to say whether you think it or not, you’re doing a beautiful job of figuring it out. You’re...showing up; not giving up; sharing what’s going on with at least one person who deeply cares and bears witness; spending precious time, money, and personal energy to figure things out; getting a massage; asking for help; saying no; saying yes; staying in; going out; taking long showers; taking long walks; sitting quietly in the darkness; lighting a candle; reading a book on the couch all day; not going to the mall. Don't get me wrong, your shit is real, but so are you, and so is your resilient beauty.

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